Tuesday 29 January 2013

Filofax - Part Three

In two earlier posts (HERE & HERE)  I explored my Filofax and how it worked for me. One of the comments that was left was that it seemed complicated. I then thought, Was it?

I looked again at my structure and realised that perhaps, just ever so slightly it was and perhaps I should merge some of those sections together. Those sections could be merged because as long as I could find things then that was the most important; and no one else used my Filofax anyway.

I planned to live with my structure for another few weeks then to review. In the meantime, I read another Filofax post, where the writer commented that she was wrestling with her Filofax. I got a sense that like me the writer of that post simply had to have her Filofax just right. She used the wonderful expression of "her brain on paper" and I thought that is exactly what my Filofax is to me.

So, the final decisions for this Filofax is the following layout -
  • Notes - including book titles,book reviews, websites etc.
  • Expenses - keeping track of family history subscriptions and payments to professional bodies.
  • Personal - birthday list etc
  • Projects - here is where I record ideas for blog posts and keep a note of specific posts are to appear on various sites 
  • Genealogy - here is where I keep details on various research lines, or ideas for research
  • Work - a mixture of CPD opportunities, research clients, and other professional review work

The back card section holds my Jersey Heritage card and entry cards to The National Archives and Society of Genealogists. It also holds my membership number to the pharmacy professional body.

I am still keeping my diary separately as I prefer the page a day variety where I record appointments, hours worked, social engagements and notes such as that I paid the credit card bill.

My next task is to source some nicer dividers and to explore potential uses for the other Filofaxes that are in my study. As luck would have it I have a spare set of blank dividers from WHSmiths quite a few years ago and they come in a set of 6!

4 comments:

  1. I applaud your commitment to your Filofax.

    I guess we all have a mini filing system to carry around with us, but I have had a 'letting go' moment. It happened the day Mom died and I have been liberated. I hope you don't mind me posting the link here. http://livingwithmomscancer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/funny-thing-happened.html

    Do you have plans to clear out your Filofax periodically?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lesley, thanks for your comments, support & the link to your earlier post. I have read it & plan to leave a further comment. You might be interested in a post that will be published as part of my Across the Pond series at The In-Depth Genealogist, you'll see the resemblance when it's published. I will tweet the link!

      I usually clear my Filofax out weekly as I seem to be a bit of a squirrel!

      Delete
  2. I guess we all work with what suits us best. I don't like carrying around anything other (even?) a tiny notebook and my phone for appts. Even working fulltime that didn't cut it. My whiteboard is my thinking space. Everything else goes in my head -which probably says a lot about the state of my mind!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I clean out my planner regularly, too - usually at the end of each month. Otherwise it would burst at its seams!

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